OLYMPIA – A federal judge threw out the voter-approved Top Two primary system Friday, saying it infringes on the constitutional rights of the Democratic and Republican parties to choose their nominees.
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Zilly ruled the state must not “deny a party its role in selecting its representatives” and said Initiative 872 violates this constitutional protection by allowing voters to elect candidates of any party of their choice.
The heads of the Democratic and Republican parties cheered the decision.
“Political parties have a First Amendment right to free speech, and the most important part of free speech is picking your candidates,” said Chris Vance, chairman of the Washington State Republican Party.
He called on state leaders to begin negotiations on a primary system “that we can all live with and is constitutional.”
Attorney General Rob McKenna and leaders of the Washington State Grange vowed a quick appeal.
“We’re going to do everything we can to try and make sure the will of 60 percent of the people in this state is listened to and acted upon,” said Dan Hammock, communications director of the Grange that proposed I-872.
Zilly’s decision means the primary on Sept. 20 will be conducted the same way as was done for the September 2004 election, a process that many voters openly detested.
In partisan races, voters will pick a party and be limited to choosing only from among candidates of that party.
In Snohomish County that would appear to remove any impediment to those wishing to run for County Council seats in the 1st, 4th and 5th districts.
That’s particularly so for Democratic candidates Steve Hobbs and Suzanne Smith who’ve each been campaigning without backing from and against the wishes of the local party’s leadership.
“It’s good news for me because I can run,” Smith said. She will face Marian Harrison, the party’s endorsed candidate, with the winner taking on incumbent Republican County Councilman John Koster. “That’s how we do it in the state of Washington. We let the people choose.”
Hobbs was doorbelling in Snohomish when the decision came out. In the primary, he will meet Dave Somers, the former county councilman who’s been endorsed by the party. The winner will meet incumbent Republican County Councilman Jeff Sax.
“It really didn’t matter to me,” Hobbs said Friday. “I am going to continue to do what I am doing,” he said. “Nothing’s changed.”
The initiative grew out of a backlash to the court-ordered banishing of the beloved blanket primary, a system that for 70 years allowed Washington voters to pick their favorite candidate, regardless of political party.
It sought to preserve that freedom without impinging on the rights of the parties to name their nominees. In May, the state Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties sued contending that the initiative failed on that point.
“We really thought the kind of primary that I-872 created is well within the constitutional standard” outlined in a 2000 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court when it tossed out California’s primary, said Senior Assistant Attorney General Jim Pharris.
Secretary of State Sam Reed contended that the judge left the door ajar for a legislative fix in 2006, a path he pledged to pursue.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@ heraldnet.com.
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